Treasurer Loftis Announces New 529 Future Scholar Contract

Monday, July 23, 2012

(Columbia, SC) – South Carolina State Treasurer Curtis Loftis announced the selection of Columbia Management as the Program Manager of the South Carolina Future Scholar 529 Plan following a competitively bid procurement process. Under the new contract, Columbia Management will also take on the role of Program Manager for the South Carolina Tuition Prepayment Program.

Columbia Management has acted as Program Manager of South Carolina’s advisor-sold and direct-sold Future Scholar 529 college saving plans since 2001. The new contract extends the partnership into 2017.

“With this new contract we were able to improve the program by including more investing options with lower fees,” Treasurer Loftis said. “This is a win/win for the state and Future Scholar participants. There is nothing more important than a quality education and the Future Scholar 529 Plan helps make college more accessible to everyone.”

Future Scholar plans can be purchased either directly by an individual or through a financial advisor. The direct-sold plan is available only to South Carolina residents and an online application can be accessed at www.futuresholar.com. The advisor-sold plan is available nationally through financial advisors.

The South Carolina Future Scholar 529 College Savings Plan offers three investment options:

Age-based option – corresponds with the child’s age and the parents’ risk tolerance over time

Single-fund option – variety of mutual funds from some of the industry’s leading money managers

As of June 30, 2012 South Carolina’s Future Scholar 529 plan had approximately $1.5 Billion in assets and 93,000 accounts. To learn more about the 529 Future Scholar program, visit www.futurescholar.com.

The new Future Scholar contract is just another step in the Treasurer’s push to streamline and modernize the Treasurer’s office. In the past year, Treasurer Loftis updated the State Treasurer’s Office banking services contract and commissioned the first independent audit of the State Treasurer’s Office since 1988. The audit covered $700 million in assets. Currently, the Treasurer’s Office is rebidding its banking custody services contract.